Wrench



E. W. COCHRAN.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, I92!- Patented Nov. 1-, 1921.

UNITED STATES,

EDWIN w.c0cHnAN, or CATAWBA, ivoa'rir CAROLINA.

" WRENCH.

Application filed May 24, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN W. CooHRAN, acitizen of the United States,residing at Catawba, in the county of Catawba and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Nrench;and I'do hereby declare the fol-- lowingto be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive andeflicient wrench for general use wherein the jaws are capable of readyadjustment to fit the bolt or nut head to be operated, and wherein theadjustment may be accomplished by the hand which grasps the shank orgrip of the wrench without necessitating the use of the other hand andwith thisobject in view I the invention consists in a construction andcombination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown in thedrawing, where- Figure 1 is a side view of a wrench embodying theinvention.

F ig. 2 is a similar View showing parts broken away to indicate theinterior construction.

Fig. 3 is an edge view.

Fig. 4: is a detail view in perspective of one of the jaws.

. Fig. 5 is an end view of the wrench with the jaws removed.

The wrench consists essentially of the shank 10 having a grip portion 11and being longitudinally slotted as shown at 12 for the reception of anoperating spindle 13 which thus is positioned within the thickness ofthe shank and is provided adj acent to the grip 11 with an o cratinghead 14 which may be peripheral y milled as shown to permit of readyturning of the stem or spindle by the thumb and forefinger of the handgrasping the grip.

At the outer end the shank is provided with an enlarged head 15 which islongitudinally channeled as shown-at 16 for the reception of the slidemembers 17 of the jaws 18, and the under sides of the slides carried bythe jaws are provided with rack teeth 19 for engagement by the spirallywebbed operating head or disk 20 on the end of the spindle 13 so thatwhen the spindle is turned the jaws are respectively Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

Serial No. 472,120.

moved toward or from each other to secure the proper relativeadjustment.

In the outer side surfaces of the slides are formed grooves 22 in whichfit guiclng ribs 23 projecting inward from the side walls of thechannels in the head of the shank, while the facing or adjacent surfacesof the slides are fiat and are adapted to be arranged in contact forrelative sliding movement.

Stop pins 25 are arranged in the bottom of the channel in the'head tolimit the outward movement respectively of the jaws to prevent thedisengagement thereof from the head.

As indicated clearly in Fig. 3 the head of the wrench is preferablyenlarged or expanded inwardly, being tapered toward its extremity whilethe slide members 17 of the jaws, which are arranged in sliding contactat their inner surfaces are tapered in width toward their inner edges asalso is the channel in which said slide members operate,the side wallsof said channels being arranged in an inwardly convergent relation, soas to increase the thickness of the material of the head at oppositesides of the'channel and thereby reinforce and strengthen the headagainst any lateral strain which may be applied to the jaws in theoperation of the wrench. The guiding ribs 23 are arranged at the outeredges of the walls of the channel to invade the latter and the grooves22 are formed at the thickened or wider portions of the slide members toavoid unnecessarily weakening the latter and hence exposing the same tobreakage at this point.

Moreover on the spindle 13 there is preferably arranged an indicator 26operating in relation to points or marks 27 on the handle of the tool asa guide to the operator in turning the spindle,the,extent of movement ofthe indicator serving to show the operator to what extent these jaws arebeing spread or moved toward each other when the jaws are not exposed aswhen arranged adjacent to an object to be engaged thereby.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is A wrench having ashank provided at one end with a grip portion and at the other end withan enlarged head having a longitudinal guide channels, j aws' havingcontacting slides fitted in said guide channel, an operating spindlearranged in a longitudinal slot in. the shank and provided at its innerend With an operating head Withinreach ef a hand grasping the grip and aspirally Webbed disk carried by said spindle in engagement With racks onsaid slides, saidw operating spindle being arranged Within the thicknessof the shank, in a longitudinal slot formed therein.

1 In testimony WhereefI aflix niy signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

' a lEDW I N W. COCHRAN 7 Witnesses: 7

LEE LOFTON, E. G. GARMIGHAEL.

